Trio of nations reach new deal to replace NAFTA

The United States, Canada and Mexico reached an agreement late on Sunday, Sept. 30, to update the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). NAFTA was first enacted in 1994 as a way to govern more than $1.2 trillion worth of trade among the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The Trump administration had been working to renegotiate NAFTA with the governments of Canada and Mexico.

As a result of the agreement, the new deal will be known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), according to a news report in the Washington Post. Most of the key provisions of the deal won’t go into effect until 2020 since leaders from all three countries have to sign it and then Congress and legislatures in Canada and Mexico have to approve it, the Washington Post reports.

A number of industry associations have responded so far to share what this new USMCA deal means for the recycling industry.

“We appreciate the administration’s hard work to reach this trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico—especially regarding measures that ensure North American steel continues to be used in automobile production,” Gibson says. “We are pleased that the agreement is trilateral, as the relationship between our three countries has been extremely beneficial for the steel industry and resulted in robust trade and investment in the region over the past 25 years. This new agreement is significant, as it will keep our manufacturing supply chains strong throughout North America.”

CANACERO, a Mexico-based association representing that nation’s steelmakers, posted a statement online Oct. 2 that decried the fact the new agreement did nothing to replace existing tariffs on steel imposed by the U.S. government, referring to “the serious situation that affects our industrial sector created by the application of tariffs of 25 percent under Section 232 imposed by the U.S.”

Adds the group, “Mexico does not represent any risk of national security for the U.S., and such an artificial measure is frankly inconsistent with the principles of free trade and is a damaging precedent that violates the free market of the region.”

Regarding customs clearances, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Washington, says it is hopeful the USMCA’s more detailed guidelines for the three governments to cooperate will allow for improved border crossings, including information sharing, law enforcement collaboration, procedures for adjudicating disputes. ISRI says the USMCA enhances collaboration between the government to prevent illegal transshipment by outside parties.

ISRI adds that USMCA does not mention specific standards or standards bodies as preferred guidelines, so the association is “hopeful that ISRI Specifications will be acknowledged as the guidelines for scrap.”

In USMCA’s Rules of Origin, ISRI notes that waste and scrap “maintain the same origin classification as in the NAFTA in that scrap materials are considered ‘originating’ in North America if processed in one of three countries … as well as derived from used goods collected in one of the three countries for purposes of extracting raw materials.” The association says this aspect of USMCA is beneficial for manufacturing customers that produce goods from scrap commodities processed in North America, since they will be able to include scrap as part of the new 60 percent transaction value (or 50 percent of cost) accumulation threshold for duty-free trade within North America.

Referring to the U.S. 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada and Mexico, ISRI says reports indicate that those negotiations “will happen separately, but no timeline was given.”

Additionally, the Aluminum Association released a statement expressing its disappointment that the latest agreement didn't include a Section 232 tariff resolution.

“The Aluminum Association is disappointed that the Section 232 aluminum tariffs were not addressed as a part of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA),” says Heidi Brock, president and CEO of the association. “Now is the time for the United States to work with Canada and Mexico to provide a full exemption—without quotas—for aluminum imports from those countries. This should occur as soon as possible, and certainly before the final agreement is signed.”

Brock adds that integrated North American supply chains are a main reason the aluminum industry has been able to meet growing demand every year. However, she says, as the industry is in a deficit market, additional barriers in the supply chain such as the tariffs will threaten growth.

“The current Section 232 tariffs are hurting U.S. aluminum companies, making them less competitive on the world stage,” Brock says. “Fully 97 percent of domestic aluminum industry jobs are in mid- and downstream production and processing. By artificially raising input prices and constraining metal supply, tariffs and quotas risk harming demand, growth and investment in the United States. We will continue to review the specifics of the agreement and work towards tariff- and quota-free trade of aluminum with our North American trading partners.”

Axion Polymers invests in product development

Axion Polymers, U.K., has invested in more laboratory test equipment at its plastics recycling facility, including a new injection molding machine that will enable a greater range of polymer testing and further development of recycled polymer grades, the company reports.

Axion’s in-house test capability now includes a Fourier transform mid-infrared spectrometer for analyzing the composition of black and dark-colored polymer chips, a near-infrared multi-chip spectrometer for rapid analysis of large quantities of polymer chips and an X-ray fluorescence analyzer for heavy metals and bromine. The lab also has a notched Izod impact tester, a tensile tester and a lab-scale injection mold machine to produce test pieces and evaluate molding performance.

Mark Keenan, Axion Polymers business development manager, says the new lab equipment “provides an improved range and accuracy of results for our customers. Being able to guarantee consistent quality results and product is so important to all our customers, most of which run their operations 24 hours a day. The new laboratory equipment will ensure we are able to do that.”

The laboratory facilities have been upgraded as part of improved quality control measures and technical product development.

“The investment in new laboratory test equipment allows us to achieve reliable data for our polymer quality and process control,” explains Pasika Chongcharoenthaweesuk, Axion process development engineer. “This helps to optimize the process, not only to produce a consistent quality product, but also to improvethe quality and increase the throughput. This has opened up new opportunities for us to develop products suitable for other applications.”

“This investment is excellent for our laboratory as we are always developing new product grades because of customer requests,” she says. “The new equipment enables us to provide much quicker results.”

Axion Polymers is part of the Axion Group that develops and operates innovative resource recovery and processing solutions for recycling waste materials. The group works with a wide range of clients within the recycling and process industries on the practical development of new processing and collection methods.

Vitafusion converts to recycle-friendly shrink label packaging

Church & Dwight Co. Inc., the New Jersey-based Vitafusion manufacturer, has announced the company will be the first in the U.S. to use recycle-friendly shrink label packaging for vitamins. Beginning this year, packaging for vitafusion gummies will incorporate shrink labels made with Eastman Embrace’s LV resin and Sun Chemical’s SunLam de-seaming adhesive, which increases the recyclability of the packaging by making the labels easy to remove. The full line will convert to recycle-friendly packaging by 2019.

“We are thrilled to offer this shrink label and de-seaming technology, making our product shrink package recycle-friendly,” says Laurie Kirschner, director of marketing for Vitafusion. “Previously, the plastic bottle was recyclable, but the label created challenges for recycling. The Vitafusion brand labels will now proudly feature the highly respected ‘How2Recycle’ designation.”

The brand “aims to do our part for the environment with recycle friendly packaging and is socially conscious through our partnership initiative with The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation to plant up to 200,000 fruit trees by 2020,” she adds. “We are dedicated to delivering fresh fruit to communities in need and helping to make a positive impact on the environment for generations to come.”

Incorporating the new de-seaming adhesive into its current labeling process allows Vitafusion to maintain the look and quality of its package, the company says. The SunLam adhesive ensures the washing phase of the recycling process can easily remove shrink labels.

“The technical expertise of our packaging partners has enabled us to use the latest technologies available,” says Rich McNabb, global director of packaging for Church & Dwight. “Increasing the recyclability of our packaging is a great decision for the long-term success of our business and our environment. This exciting new technology has huge potential to improve recycling for shrink-labeled packaging across many companies and industries.”

Danish company Eldan Recycling has developed a frequency drive for its Super Chopper that offers a lower power consumption and a lower price than previous models, according to a company press release.

For more than 20 years, the Eldan Super Chopper has served as a heavy-duty pre-chopper for recycling processes. According to an Eldan press release, it can be used for pre-chopping most materials such as tires without prior de-beading, cables and electronic and electrical waste, refrigerators, aluminum, municipal solid waste, wind turbine wings, plastics and industrial waste.

The Eldan Super Chopper is now available in frequency drive. The new Eldan Super Chopper Frequency Drive has the same strength, capacity and function as the hydraulic version, but it will also reduce the power consumed, according to Eldan.

“We launched the Eldan Super Chopper with frequency drive during the first quarter of 2018 and it has been very well-received by customers,” says Jan Kjær, manager of research and development at Eldan. “We already have five in operation and an additional five to be installed soon.”

Kjær adds that Eldan’s Super Chopper customers are located all over the world, including Ecuador, North America, Russia and southern Europe.

Additionally, Kjær says Eldan’s Super Chopper with frequency drive features energy consumption levels that are lower than what the company initially anticipated.

“The start-up power is less than 10 percent of nominal KW, and the average power consumption is reduced by up to 50 to 60 percent,” Kjær says.

The Eldan Super Chopper is now available with frequency and hydraulic drive as a single and twin rotor, as well as a heavy-duty version. Visit the company website for more information.

Waste Free Oceans shelter to be on exhibit at Ecomondo

Through closing the loop projects, Waste Free Oceans works with companies
worldwide to transform marine litter into innovative and sustainable products.

The organization collects plastic from the oceans and rivers, which is mixed
with plastic collected by waste haulers, processed in a plant and converted
into panels. WFO, which engages in marine litter clean-ups worldwide, says the
panels will be used to build affordable houses and shelters for local
communities that have lost their homes in natural disasters, thus contributing to
the welfare of people in less fortunate areas.

The first shelter model will be on exhibit Nov. 6-9 at the Ecomondo in
Rimini, Italy. The expo brings together all sectors of the circular economy,
from material and energy recovery to sustainable development and is a reference
point in the international panorama.

Corepla, an Italian nonprofit that collects, recycles and recovers waste
from plastic packaging, supports the Waste Free Oceans project. The nonprofit provided all the material that was used to
build the first "prototype" shelter.

The organizations are working together to find a practical answer
to the issue of marine litter, WFO says, and to help educate society on recycling
solutions.

WFO hopes to be actively involved in local prevention by educating people
and involving them in rebuilding homes and collecting and sorting waste.